LAKEPORT, Calif. – One person has died and several others are injured as the result of a fire at a senior apartment complex that occurred on Sunday evening in Lakeport.
The fire began at around 5:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Lakeview Housing senior apartment complex at 525 Bevins St., according to Lakeport Fire Chief Doug Hutchison, the incident commander.
Units from Lakeport Fire, Kelseyville Fire, Lake County Fire, Northshore Fire, Cal Fire and the Lake County Sheriff's Office rapidly converged at the scene, with the first units to arrive reporting that they saw smoke and flames coming out of one side of the building.
Lakeport City Councilman Martin Scheel, who arrived on the scene shortly after the fire was dispatched, said the fire response was rapid, with firefighters quickly moving in and out of the building to control the blaze and evacuate the residents.
Hutchison directed firefighters to take a ladder truck to the back of the two-story building, where people were reported to be coming out of windows.
Deputies assisted firefighters in conducting a room-by-room search of the 36-unit complex, according to radio reports. Firefighters also reported rescuing pets from the fire.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen confirmed to Lake County News that there was one fatality as a result of the fire.
The victim, a woman, was found in an elevator, Rasmussen said.
Reports from the scene indicated firefighters found the woman during a sweep of the building just before 7 p.m., not long after Hutchison said over the air that the fire was contained.
In addition to the one death, Rasmussen said there were several injuries. He said one person was transported via air ambulance to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, and three others were taken to Sutter Lakeside Hospital.
Rasmussen said about 30 of the apartment complex's uninjured residents were moved by Lake Transit Authority buses to the Lakeport Senior Activity Center on Konocti Avenue, with the last residents leaving the fire scene just after 8 p.m.
“We believe we have everybody accounted for but we'll be checking that again down at the senior center,” said Rasmussen, noting that some of the residents have cars and so may not have been at home when the fire occurred.
At the center, Red Cross and city officials planned to assess the residents' needs, including what medications they require, and determine if they had been reunited with their pets, Rasmussen said.
He said those who need a place to stay overnight will be taken to the Lakeport Seventh-day Adventist Church at Park Way and Hill Road, which had served as an evacuation shelter for the Clayton fire this past week.
The initial dispatch attributed the incident to an oxygen tank that had caught fire in a first floor unit. However, Rasmussen said a final determination about what led to the fire hasn't yet been made.
“We believe that it's probably an accidental cause,” he said.
He said a joint investigation involving Lakeport Police, Lakeport Fire, Cal Fire and the Lake County Arson Task Force will determine the cause.
Rasmussen said shortly after 8 p.m. that Bevins Street from Bevins Court to Martin Street was to remain closed for up to five hours while fire personnel worked at the scene. Once they were done, the road would be reopened.
As for the complex itself, Rasmussen said it would be sealed off and secured overnight, with no one outside of law enforcement or fire officials allowed onto the scene.
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Lakeport senior apartment complex fire claims one life, injures several other people
- Elizabeth Larson
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